Auckland top ranked for Australasian spinouts and start-ups

20 October 2023

Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland has returned another string of successful results in the annual SCOPR report, including coming out first for the number of active spinout and start-up companies for 2022.

The annual Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes (SCOPR) is produced every year by Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia (KCA) based on their analysis of data from Australian and New Zealand universities and research agencies.

UniServices, the University’s not-for-profit company that transforms research into global impact starting in Aotearoa New Zealand, was out in front with 39 active spinout and start-up companies for 2022, up from second place of 32 in 2021, ahead of the University of Queensland in second with 32 and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO with 31).

University of Auckland also shot-up in the ‘New start-up and spinout companies’ section with 11, an increase from 4 in 2021 and second to the University of New South Wales with 12. Melbourne’s Monash University was third with seven.

“These are significant results for UniServices given this is only third year we have entered the survey,” says Dr Andy Shenk, UniServices CEO.

Many of the start-ups featured in UniServices investment and partnering portfolio include those that had their beginnings at the University of Auckland Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), including Roster Lab, Zenno Astronautics and Kara Technologies. CIE Director Darsel Keane says “CIE and UniServices work in partnership on campus delivering a world class entrepreneurial ecosystem. CIE develops a pipeline of entrepreneurial talent and supports the ignition and activation of ventures, and UniServices invests in the development of the IP and provides expertise and funding to develop early-stage ventures. It’s great to see the University’s support for New Zealand’s entrepreneurial ecosystem recognised by the evidence in the SCOPR report.”

The University of Auckland also placed second in Commercialisation Revenue with a total of $60 million.

“Our work investing and developing research is proving a success not just commercially but also for our society,” said UniServices Executive Director of Commercialisation Will Charles.

“We continue to make huge inroads to build a better future by looking for new research opportunities locally and internationally to create a better world.”

Over a span of fifteen years, UniServices has:

• Delivered over $261m in additional research revenues through strategic investments.
• Reached a total market capitalisation of $1.25bn in its portfolio companies.
• Realized a >3x return on investment, including successful exits to global industry leaders.
• Launched more than 45 companies, licensed over 430 patent families, and secured more than $400m in follow-on capital.

The KCA provides data highlighting the key role of Technology Transfer Professionals (TTPs) in assisting researchers get great commercial outcomes.

The SCOPR collects research commercialisation metrics from Australian and New Zealand universities, medical research institutes and publicly funded research agencies to enable national and international benchmarking of them.

The material helps to inform decisions by research organisations, government and industry stakeholders seeking to enhance industry engagement and research commercialisation.

You can read the full report at techtransfer.org.au.